Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is as shifty as they come even without the ball in his hands. The New York Knicks witnessed this first hand in their match-up at Chase Center on Thursday. In the closing minutes of the first half, the two-time NBA MVP confused the heck out of Knicks defenders Elfrid Payton and Nerlens Noel with his mastery of using screens to free himself up.
Stephen Curry initially went one way to force Payton and Noel to react before brilliantly using Kevon Looney's solid pick. But he wasn't done yet, as he used some herky-jerky tomfoolery to leave his two defenders in the dust.
Draymond Green quickly located the Dubs' wide-open sharpshooter as Stephen Curry delivered one of his Chef Curry specials from long range.
Warriors fans, meanwhile, are certainly used to seeing Stephen Curry deceive the league's best defenders with this move. While he is already a handful with the ball in his hands, the 6-time All-Star's movement without the ball is actually one of his most underrated skills.
Stephen Curry and his Splash Brother Klay Thompson have made a living out of these types of plays, en-route to leading Golden State to three NBA titles over the last decade.
Stephen Curry doesn't have the full amount of help he needs, precisely because the aforementioned Klay Thompson isn't on the floor for the Warriors this season. Anyone who is watching this Dubs-Knicks game on Thursday night is acutely aware of the reality that if Draymond Green isn't accompanying Steph in the Warriors' lineup, Golden State's connectedness as a team is significantly eroded at both ends of the floor. It's bad enough without Klay, but when Dray is also removed from the mix, Steph is all by himself with conspicuously inferior teammates. Golden State's frailty keeps being exposed.